A man and woman found dead Friday inside a wrecked car may have stolen it from a southeast Houston service station, authorities said.

The driver lost control of the car about 5:30 p.m. in a residential neighborhood along Leitrim Way near Tareyton Lane, Houston police said.

"It hit the curb, went airborne and struck a tree," said HPD Sgt. F.J. Briones.

Huey Johnson Jr. said he came upon the wreckage soon after the crash. He looked inside the car to see if he could help.

"We were trying to see if maybe they were alive. But you could see they were dead," Johnson said.

A man was in the driver's seat while a woman was in the front passenger seat. Their identities have not been confirmed police said the man was 32 and the woman 23.

A man who identified himself as Danny McCampbell was being questioned by police at the scene. He said the car belonged to him and was taken when he stopped only minutes earlier at a nearby gas station.

"All he had to do was not take my car," McCampbell said. "I don't even know who the driver was."

Briones said the car had not been reported stolen.

Police said it appears the owner and a friend were searching the neighborhood when he spotted the stolen vehicle. The driver fled when the owner began to pursue him.

Witnesses told police the man in the stolen car appeared to be going 60 mph — twice the posted limit — in his bid to escape.

He lost control of the car and crashed soon after.

The identities of the two people found in the car will be confirmed by Harris County medical examiners, police said.